Kato Tokino : Crossing of Time
by KuroTenshi1
Summary: What is one to do when the love of their life turns into the very thing she fought against? Endymion, the King of Earth, has come to a decision and with help from an unlikely source he will change the future of Earth.The question is...will it be good?
1. Chapter 1: Illusion

**_Illusions _**

****

Part 1

There was a reason- oh they say it was for the good of the people. The good of the world and universe. Still, if one looked at the pretty marble called Earth, it would wonder why... why did they allow it to happen?

The people, they look up to the crystal glass castle that has been there since the freeze. Did they see them? Did those people- those fairy tale people...know about the world outside their glided cage?

He knew. He always knew about the world beyond the gates and crystal. Why though, he ponders, why does she keep them like this? Separated from the rest of the world?

Was it some sick pleasure she got out of it? To know she had the power to destroy it all and save this world? He ponders more about it even know. The girl he had married was no longer there any more. No she had been replaced.

By Serenity, the heir to the moon kingdom of long ago.

He wipes his mouth out of habit rather then nervousness. Yes, she was Serenity. Not Usagi. Serenity that was proper, that blushed at even a hint of sexual remark. Serenity who thought of only her kingdom and her destiny to fulfill it.

His storm blue eyes turned towards the mirror seeing his reflection. He looked no different. The same tuxedo, the same mask, the white gloves and dress shoes. He moves over towards the mirror and stared at himself.

Was there anything different?

Yes...there was. Something about the way he stood, something about the way his eye...what was wrong with his eyes?

A light confusion fell across his face, making him frown more. He always seemed scary when he frowned.

His hands lifted slowly to take it off- the mask that he had worn for a long time. So long that he didn't remember not wearing it. His days with the girl named Usagi were nothing but a dream...and there too, he wore his mask. But some times... some times he didn't.

He breathed out staring at his own reflection. He shook his head a little and chuckled. He was being ridiculous. There was nothing wrong with his eyes. They were the same as they had been for the last two thousand years...

Empty.

He hears a soft knock at the door. Unhurriedly he puts his mask back on and turns slightly, "Enter."   
His voice sounded like a soft rumble- almost like a thunderstorm that was far away and had yet to decide which path to take.

A pale pink head looked through the door, looking very much like the teenager her mother once was. "Father, they're waiting on you for supper."

This girl... yes he remembered her too. She was his daughter. Lady Princess Serenity Usagi Chiba. She was very much like her mother- the Queen Serenity. Proper...graceful...

She hadn't called him 'papa' since she was nine. Now, it was always 'father'. Like that would make a young person mature. Still, he nods to her. It seemed to be a ritual now.

"...I'll be there in a shortly." He told her and hoped she would leave quickly. Lately, everything grinded his nerves.

The meetings, the scheduled 'family' time with the senshi, his own 'training', and of course -his wife.

He sighs softly feeling the odd stirrings of anger towards the woman he had loved for thousands of years- it seemed. He loved her- there was no doubt of that. He loved her very much. Yet...

Yet...

He wished she would die. How was it that the pure feelings of love and devotion turned to something akin to hate? Was this how his people felt? This anger towards the moon those long long years ago?

It was the crystal, he had told himself as he walked down the quiet and silent halls of the palace. The crystal palace with it's glitter and shine. His shoes made quiet tapping noises on the scratched crystal floors.

It was the Silver Crystal that led them all to this. He paused by the window and looked out over the city. The city that held light and shined brighter then anything.

It was because of that Silver Crystal... and her...

He knew better then the senshi- hell even Pluto knew, but she never said anything. No, the Time Guardian only interfered when it came to continuing the Moon's line. To keep some semblance of what used to be. Yes, she was a cause to that end.

But Serenity, the former Tsukino Usagi, was more cunning and sly then what they thought. In the past- yes it was always that blasted thing that kept him hooked- she had came to him.

He felt a sneer curl up his lips making him turn from the glass and continuing down the hallway.

Yes, pretty pure princess Serenity had came to him a wanton thing excited by the thought of him being the 'forbidden' earth prince of a barbaric planet that snuffed it's nose up at those outside it's realm.  
And he, being the man he was then, had taken her for all it's worth.   
Somehow...someway back then, they had become obsessed with each other.

Then all this happened. Beryl and her jealousy- gods that was the irony of it all. Beryl, the lady in waiting to his mother, had been in 'love' with him. He laughed softly to himself now. How childishly stupid.

Love.

He wasn't even sure if he felt that any more. Still, he let his feet guide him to the right place.

After dinner- there was much silence there too- he ended up standing at the window once more looking out at the city below.

Then...she came. Pale as a bloodless corpse swath in fine white silk and satin, she came to him and wrapped her cold arms around him.  
He understood then as he always did when she touched him-, which was rare, now in these days- that there was never much hope of anything.

He could feel it then- her lips...those strange red lips of hers- pressed against his mouth. He returned the kiss half-heartedly, they were cold…her lips were cold...like ice.

She pulls back, her deep blue eyes almost looked black now, and she smiled at him so softly and lovingly that it gave him pause and hope she had returned to the girl she had once been.

"I'm cold." Her voice sounded like the tinkling of a bell- or perhaps he was imagining it. "Come warm me up, Endymion."

'What for?' he wanted to ask her but knew he would always give in. After all, it was written, wasn't it? They were soul mates. Tied together for eternity. What a pleasant thought.

* * *

AN: What cha think? This is onlyt he begining of course 

Please R&R!

(and for Disclaimer: Sailormoon Characters? Nope, not mine Though I wish they were! Everyone else...mine...)


	2. Chapter 2: Restart

Part II

_**Restart**_

_  
_

Cold. That's how she was. He knew it and she knew it. Perhaps even the Senshi knew it too after the first few centuries. The girls...  
His mind strayed to the senshi that had always protected the Sol system. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn. 

What ever happened to them?

In this new world. This world without 'hate' without 'crime', they had been nothing more then bodyguards with their own corners of life. The Outers gone back to their Stations- just like before. 

Only...Saturn... that dear girl...what became of her?

It would explain some thing of Usa, his daughter, feelings and her frigidness. Hotaru had always been physically weak like a newborn kitten.  
One day in the beginnings of the new founded kingdom, Hotaru had a collapse and feel into a deep coma.

She was still there now, if he remembered correctly, still in her coma. And every day he had seen his daughter with flowers going to visit the comatose Hotaru.

"What are you thinking of Endymion?" 

Again, her voice sent chills through him.

"Nothing, Serenity...nothing at all." He answered her but his back was towards her. He had to keep her warm... the secrets of the moon was still locked away in her.

He wasn't too sure why he thought that. Even his past life visiting the moon, she had been cold to the touch then.

What was it? The secrets of the moon? Why was it that the royal family and the servants were always pale and cold? Where they dead? The walking undead?

He never knew then but he was beginning to understand now.

"Oh, Endymion, you are thinking of something." She turns on her side the sheets pooling around her waist as she leans up to look at him. Her pale hand touched his arm. White hair spilled over her shoulder, it's silky strands fell on him.  
"Tell me what is troubling you." Her smile...how lovely it was to him that he almost...almost said something. "I'll try my best to help you with it." 

Looking at her, this false angel of light, he wanted to tell her that his mind was troubled over how they were apart from others. Never stepping out of the palace. How Usa, their only child, seemed too mature for a teenager. How unhappy everyone seemed to be.

But he didn't. He couldn't seem to make the words come out. Was it some sort of magick she was playing with him? Keep him dull and slow to command everything else with?

Suddenly, the thoughts, the thoughts from long ago sprang in his mind and he sat up moving away from her icy touch. His head was bowed with these thoughts and images. He touched his face- the mask was still there.

How long had he had this mask...? She...she gave it to him a long time ago at the ball before the last one. What was it that she had said then?  
He wasn't sure anymore.

"Really, Endymion, you have been acting very ...odd lately." She told him, " What is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me...?" He echoed it sounding more like a question then not.

"Yes, you haven't been the same since Chaos attacked... tell me, love, what is wrong." Her voice was pleading to him to open up.

It was a trick. It was always a trick she had even as Usagi to get him to open up to her. A soft purr here...an slight change of tone there and she had him- and others. Yes, Serenity hasn't lost her cunning at all- even as Usagi.

He felt a smile twisted on his lips. Maybe he should take off the mask that has always been on his face. His hand rose and took it off once more. This time he laid it on the night stand and stood. He glances at her for a moment with a strange look and shook his head before he went to take a shower and get dress.

He had to get out of this.

This was no way for people to live. She shouldn't be like this either...their friends... her friends...They were wasting away as well. Something had to change.

He was going to change it.

"Endymion, where are you going?" She pouted slightly, still nude in bed as she watched him get dress in causal clothes- where did he get those? - and then stop by the bed.

Her own eyes widen slightly before drifting close when he leaned over and kissed her soundly. A soft sound came from her before he moved back.  
There was something in the drawer next to the bed.  
He had always slept where she was now.

He had it for this type of situation. 

"You still hadn't told me where you're going dressed like that, Endymion." She told him breathlessly.

She hadn't noticed what he was doing- getting out of the drawer was a simple kitchen knife.

He wasn't listening to her any more. He vaguely could see her eyes widen for the first time in a few centuries, in fear and then pain as he drove the blade into her heart.

"Wh.." Serenity didn't make a sound after that. The blood trickled out of the wound, her eyes rolled back into her head. Her body did not fall against the bed.

No, Endymion laid her back softly onto the white- now red- sheets. For the first time, he felt a flicker...something that sprung back alive.

Yes he would change it. This shining city and this crystal glided cage with its people mindless like the dead- they would all disappear. 

He understood now what the Generals were about and what the Black Moon Family was talking about.

This type of peace was simply a quieter way to die inside.

Turning away from the dead woman, he made his way unhurriedly towards the time gate where Pluto stood.

"Is it done?" She asked wearily, her dark eyes stared into his.

He nods curtly only once, " It is. Now send me back. I want to change this future..." He looked towards the gate feeling something close to excitement run through him.

"Don't change it too much. " The Time Guardian warned him as the gates opened. "Or the future will never come to past."

His brows rose, "Sestuna...I don't care if it does or not. But I will not let the people of earth become walking ageless corpses. "

With that he turned and went into the gate. Where he in time he went...who knows.


	3. Chapter 3: Misplaced

Part III  
**  
**

**  
Misplaced**

Chirp. Chirp.

What was this...? This sound he was hearing?

Chirp... Chirp...

Did he die somehow? Was he truly dead?

"Hey, look, there's someone there!" A young voice- a child's voice- and many footsteps coming closer.

"Did you see where he came from?" Another one- this too, was a child, but a girl's voice. "He fell from the sky!"

He opened his eyes slowly, everything seemed out of focus, and blurry. What was this? Where was he?

"Think he's dead?" Another asked and he felt a slight pain from being poked at. He must've bruised his side because from that one poke it was hurting like all hell.

"Nah, he ain't dead." The girl had said. He could hear the little nuisance in her voice now- she had a small lisp. Slurring her 'r's and 's's.

There was movement again, someone taller then them moved in closer. "Children, what are you-?" The voice stalled, "Oh my..."

Endymion didn't know what happened after that.

It seemed like eons to him before he opened his eyes again. The room was small and quiet with a single window by the bed and a wooden chair with a wooden table across from him.  
He picked up the soft 'ticks' from a clock that was perched on the table.

Other then that, the room was bare. Endymion tried to sit up, his sides still bruised and aching. He glances down only to find himself without a shirt. What was this? Bandages were wrapped around the torso. He frowns trying to feel it out; did he break something?  
He could hear someone moving down the hallway and opening the door.  
The person that stepped through was female, as far as he could see, and she looked familiar to him yet she wasn't. The most striking thing about her, were her eyes- a strange silvery color that stood out more when compared to her dark skin tone and inky black hair that was pulled up into a messy bun. She wasn't slender but not heavy set either. Somehow she found a place between that made her look just curvy. In his experience, few women could accomplish that and look good with it.  
The outfit she wore was a simple white t-shirt, dark blue jeans and worn-out grayish shoes.  
"You're awake." She says carrying in a tray, "We thought you might be more seriously hurt then a few ribs." She placed the tray on the table, seemingly arranging it before bringing over a glass of cold water. She offered him a sip or so of it while she chatted, "I say, you did give the kids a shock, you know. How are you feelin' sugar?"

And…she had an accent, a strong southern accent from the western world. He blinked registering the odd thought that came to him as he stopped drinking for a moment. Well to tell the truth, he felt like shit. Instead he said, "Who are you...where am I?"

She looked a little surprised and then hits her top of her head, "Oh I'm sorry. My name is Seraphina Trueheart." She grins at him, "And you're at Saint Jeanne Jugan's Orphanage."

His eyes widen a little as he began to remember, St. Jeanne Jugan's Orphanage. 'I grew up here…' He thought, ' But why did I land here?' That confused him greatly. Where in the world- or should we say timeline- was he? He looked up at Seraphina remembering how he knew her. She was one of those exchange volunteers that, if he remembered correctly, had military parents. He felt a frown as he tried to remember more but it eluded him. Years- centuries- spent in the glided crystal cage had left him a little hazy on things. He couldn't seem to recall a time without Serenity or Usagi.  
'Was that part of the allure? The Magic of the moon and people of it's kind? They make you forget everything else…?'

"Hey!" He jerked slightly out of thought and looked up at her, "I didn't ask what your name was and how you got those broken ribs." She was playing with the edge of her shirt like there was lint there. There was a short silence before she looked at him, "Well?"

'I can't tell her my other name.' He thought and he was sure that know one would know it…so…

"It's Endymion." He told her sighing slightly and tried to give that careless smile, " Endymion…Shields."

Her silver eyes seem to widen, "Wow! That's a cool name; did your parents like Mythology or something? I major in Literature and it's part of the studies you know…"

He only absently nodded as he gotten up more with a slight groan. " What…year is it?"  
Glancing at her face he tried to gauge how she would react. She looked quite confused when she told him the year. Then it was his turn to look slightly dumbfounded.  
He had over shot the years a bit too much.  
"Here try this." She told him and then stuffed the food in his mouth.  
He blinks at the sudden food in his mouth and chewed it with a smile. Well at least the food was good.

* * *

"Where is he?" she asked looking, for the first time, angry at her senshi. "Where is Endymion?" 

And for the first time in centuries, the senshi looked nervous about the answering her. They had, in their own ways, betrayed the woman they're supposed to be loyal to. But these passing years...

"Well?" The queen glares at them.

Again they were all silent. Even Uranus had nothing to say. Last time the queen had done something...that made the tall blonde fall silent. Still they waited as she paced.  
Her daughter was standing in the background her hands clasps in front of her. On either side of her were Artemis and Diana. Luna was on the other side of Artemis.  
Usa didn't know if they were scare or anxious. The Ginzuishou...

The most powerful jewel in this galaxy...

Everyone was afraid of it and were mesmerized by it.

"Perhaps..." Mercury, brave blue haired woman, spoke up in a quiet timid, " I could...find him...or..." her voice dwindled off.

Her blue eyes looks around at her senshi before she smiles, "I leave it all in your capable hands Ami."

She turns, in all her splendor and settled on her throne. "I want him found."

With that they were dismissed.

As soon as they were gone and she was alone, a sudden coughing fit over came her. She tried to regain her composer after a while and tried to breathe in.

Damn him! Why did he have to ruin it all...?

She sighs softly and felt the first tear slide down her face. Why?

"Endymion..."

* * *

An: Surprised ne?

Remember to Feed the Authors by Leaving comments! That's how we keep motivated to keep -you- entertianed!


	4. Chapter 4: Patience

Part IV

**  
  
****Patience**

Quote:  
_"Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue." - Ambrose Bierce_

_-------------------------------------------------------_

"Here's some coffee, Ames." Makoto looked over at her, "Did you find him yet?"  
The blue haired woman shook her head, "No, not yet. He hasn't left through the streets or airport." She breathes out and picks up the coffee in an exhausted manner before sipping the hot liquid. Turning slightly she smiles at Makoto, " Arigato, Mako-chan…"  
Makoto nods and looks over Ami's shoulder.  
Not minding it, Ami went over the security cameras again. Strange, that she checked for energy signature before she even thought to use every day cameras.  
"Hey, Ames…what's that?" The senshi of Jupiter pointed at the screen as a shadow moved by.  
"Hm?" Blinking her sapphire eyes, she rewinds it and played it slow so they could see a distinct shape. "I'll be…"  
Makoto frowns studying it, "Isn't that the corridor that leads to the Door of Time? " She glances at the woman, "Where Sailor Pluto is now…?"   
"Do you think…?"  
She shook her head, but her emerald eyes looked worried, "We all know, Pluto moves in mysterious ways."   
"Still" Ami says leaning back and glances up at her, "She's brave for going against the Queen's orders…"  
"Indeed."   
There was a pregnant silence that was filled with unsaid questions. It went on till a full three minutes passed before something was said.  
"Are you going to tell her?"  
"I have to." She slowly stood up and faced Makoto, "She's the queen after all."  
There was a sad look to Makoto's face. That look said it all. Still, Ami gathered what she needed to show the queen of the earth and moon even though she felt guilty about it.

-----

"Well, it looks like you're doing better, Endymion." Seraphina said as the orphanage's doctor left. " The doctor says you can leave sooner then we thought."  
The dark woman sat on the edge of his bed smiling at him, "Doc was surprised though. People with broken ribs don't really heal up in two weeks."  
Inwardly grimaces at that but smiles at her, "I'm a fast healthier."  
"Good." Seraphina says smirking at him wickedly, "That means you can earn your keep."  
Endymion blinked, "Nani?"  
Nodding the foreigner still grinned at him. "Hai. You're going to have to watch some kids." She told him. " Hm…they're not allowed on the field trip that's planned today and the other teachers need help to manage the kids. It's a stroke of pure luck that you happened to be in fit condition to help out."   
"Who…" He blinked wondered about these….'kids'   
Smiling, Seraphina got up. " You'll see."

They were kids all right. Four boys to be exact, the youngest was at least six and the oldest one looked to be nine. Endymion's slivery-blue eyes searched each of the children's faces before he turns to Seraphina. Nodding her approval, Seraphina introduced them, "This boy is Keb. He is the oldest out of the group- he's eleven." She gestures towards the pale haired boy.  
The boy looked bored at all this, his pale blue eyes glanced Endymion over a few times before looking off. Keb was dressed like any child- white shirt and blue jeans with a pair of sneakers that had seen better days.  
The next boy looked very shy and made next to no eye contact with the man. His honey-blonde hair was curly and slightly long. Endymion was able to catch a glimpse of the boy's eyes- they were the color of spring green leaves.  
"This one is Zander," She then leans close to Endymion and whispered, "He's a really good boy but...he kinda needs help you know?" She clears her throat and went on.  
"The brown haired boy is Nicholas, and the last one is Jared."  
Smiling she slaps him on the back, "Have fun!" And trots off leaving the man with the four boys.

Endymion watches her leave before looking back at the boys, who were slowly going back to what they were doing. Only one of them, the pale haired boy Keb, was staring up at him wrinkling his nose a little. "All you have to do is watch tv. We can take care of ourselves."  
No one else seems to dispute this claim as he left to join his friends. Somehow, Endymion felt that there was something familiar about the look he had just received.

----------------------------

"Mercury, report!"  
The blue haired senshi steps forward with a touch of hesitancy. Lately their queen had been acting strangely. Endymion had been gone for only a few days and already the word was slowly leaking out that he might have left her.  
There was speculation as to where the king was, but it was too early to tell.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Ami spotted the senshi of Pluto standing behind the column. What was she doing?  
Her attention snaps back to the pale queen. "Your majesty," She says kneeling, "I've located where the king maybe."  
This caught everyone's attention. It was then that Ami also noticed that behind the throne, the curious eyes of Usa and Diana were watching as well. Apparently, Usa wasn't suppose to know about this meeting either. Suddenly, Ami could feel the heaviness of her report had on her. She wondered, once more, if what she was doing was the right thing. What if what Mamoru was doing was a good thing and she was wrong? What if he was wrong…?

"Well?" Serenity was sitting upright and leaning closer to hear the words that the senshi of wisdom was about to speak. She knew she could count on her first friend. Ami was the smartest out of all the senshi and the most reliable- not that the others weren't- but Ami had something and she was relying on it now. "What news do you have of him?"

It was an internal battle that was raging on inside of the princess of Mercury. Her loyalty to her friend and queen was battling against her sense of right and wrong. She felt that she should trust what Endymion was doing but at the same time her old memories of the past haunted her and reminded her who her true allegiance was to the moon princess and the moon kingdom.  
'I'm sorry.' Was all she thought as she spoke up. "The last recording shows that Endymion was in the forbidden corridor heading to the Time Gate." She says her sapphire eyes gazed down at the crystalline floor. "It is highly possible, given the readings, that he went into the past."

The news was met with a heavy silence. Ami dared not to look up at the queen, but chose instead, to look at the princess who was hidden behind the throne.  
"That can't be possible." Luna stepped forth and gazed at the senshi, "The only way that he would be able to leave is only if Sa-"  
"Sailor Pluto allowed it." The monarch stood interrupting the Mauian woman.   
Venus shook her head, "That cannot be true, your majesty." She looks around, "I mean, Pluto wouldn't do so without a good reason."  
"Perhaps she allowed him to escape into the past because she still holds feelings for him." Neptune glances at the pillar with a small smile.  
It was no secret amongst the senshi about Pluto's love for the king.

Serenity thought that might be the case, but she never acknowledged it- never would. "Sailor Pluto, come before me now."

The dark senshi made her appearance, as if she had just arrived, and knelt before Neo Queen Serenity. "You called, my queen?"

"Why did you allow him through the time Gate?" the queen demanded, " Where- no…what time line did he go to?"

Pluto looks up at her, "I have no idea what you speak of, my queen. There are many 'hims' and 'hers' and many, many timelines that are more intricate then the dress you're wearing."

"Oh don't play dumb with me, Princess Persephone." Serenity's eyes narrowed, "I'm not in the mood to be amused."

Pluto stood finally, " And I, Princess Serenity," She stressed out the words and used the woman's former title almost to remind her- if not show her- that she was not afraid of her at all. "Have no time to be play twenty questions with you. Now, if your majesty would be so kind as to tell me who and what has happened?"

"I wish to know if Endymion went to the Time Gate and if so, did he go into the past." Inwardly, she was a tad- ha a tad- angry at the senshi of time but decided not to push her luck. It was true that she could probably defeat Pluto in a fight, but the senshi of Time was not shrinking violet. She could easily mess up time in a way that none of them would be born. Serenity had to tread carefully with her and the other outers then she would with her Inner senshi.

Pluto, for her part, maintained her cool façade while inwardly she worried about this. If she knew her queen, she would know what would happen next. Still, she had to stay like she was. "I saw no one, your majesty, as you can see I have only returned from my own duties to guard the gate while my other-self is out helping you in the past. He may have slipped through then."

That was something the queen hadn't considered. Pausing she thought about it and nods to herself. Still she glances over at the tall woman.  
"Can you pin point the exact place he is in?" If he was in the past he could change the course of their future. That was something she didn't want. After all, they worked –hard- for this; for everything to get to this peace.  
Why was he trying to ruin it? She pondered this while waiting for a reply.

Pluto knew she was treading dangerously on treason, but she needed this to happen. This future was not a happy one and even though there were many alternate ones- too many to count- she wanted this one to be so. So, her only reply was this:   
"It can be done, your majesty." Neutral. That was the tone of it but she felt compelled to soften the tone a bit. "But you know it may take a while before the exact date and time he arrived in."

Shaking her head the pale queen moved back to her throne and settles on it trying to reign in her emotions. "That is something we do not have. We need to get him back here."  
She closed her eyes, missing the glances the Sol Senshi were giving each other.   
"Pluto, please, find him as quickly as you can." She opens her eyes, gazing down at them, "And once he is pinpointed I wish to send some of you to go and retrieve him."

---

Endymion observed the boys for a while before he got up to make them lunch. There was something so oddly familiar about them. He returned carrying a tray of sandwiches and juice boxes for them. "Lunch time."  
The four boys glanced up from their projects- Keb was building some model, Zander was reading, Jared was playing some video game, and Nicholas was drawing- before the other three shot looks towards Keb. Endymion observed this quietly, before setting the food down. There was something too familiar about them, but he didn't know what.  
There wasn't much he could do at the moment, so he settles down one the couch sighing softly. After a while he asked, "You guys seem very close, are you brothers?"  
"Nope," Jared says as he blasted one of the aliens.  
Keb looks up after gluing the last piece in, "We all met here." He turns his gaze back to another piece.  
"It was predicted in the stars that we would meet up again." Nicholas adds as he searches for a color pencil. "I've been tellin' them that for years."  
"Years?" That caught his attention, "exactly how long have you guys been here?"  
For a while none of the boys said anything before Keb spoke up, "Zan has been here since he was four, he's eight now." Glance towards the other two who nodded.  
Zander was the youngest of the group and was often the quietest.  
"I've been here since I was…six." Nicholas told him casually, "Keb was my first friend here. Jared, he came when he was five then Zan did. We were friends ever since."  
Endymion's gaze settled back on the eleven-year-old boy, "And when did you get here?"  
"Doesn't matter." Came the reply before he finally gets up and puts the model action figure up on the shelf. "I'm going to my room."   
Watching the boy leave, the man turns his head towards the other three. Something must've profoundly left its mark on him- as it did with the others. He had seen it when they played, when they ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together; hell they shared two rooms between the four of them. They were separate from the others in more ways then just physical ways.  
He probably wouldn't be able to get any more out of them now. So, the minutes lapsed into hours before the other returned from the trip, some tired some full of energy still. The small orphanage was once again alive with the sounds of children.


End file.
